Latest Budget climbdown - uncertified sick days

[He3]

The Department of Education has announced a significant rowing back on controversial proposed cuts to substitution cover in primary schools.

The department said it will be restoring cover for teachers on uncertified sick leave in all but a limited number of cases.

The Budget had proposed eliminating all funding for substitutes for teachers that were absent without a doctor's certificate.

Primary school managers had warned that this would cause chaos in schools.

RTÉ News: Substitute teaching cover to be restored


What exactly to they do in Marlborough Street I wonder? Have they any idea of the trouble they cause?

[SPN]

Don't get me started on the w4nkbreaks in Marlborough Street.


More importantly though, I hope the substitutes are going to be paid a reasonable hourly rate under this deal, and not the ridiculous €42/hr they had been getting.

With unemployment rising and pay rates declining, I'd imagine there would be no shortage of suitable people who'd work for €15/hr.

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[JCSkinner]

There are 1300 civil servants in the Department of Education.
They will prosecute you if you seek to keep your children out of school.
But if you ask them to find your child a place in a school, they'll tell you that's your own responsibility, even if, as in my case, over 40 schools in the area had told me they were full and could not give my child a place.
I've had to move house and pay thousands annually just to get my kid an education.
Seriously, WTF do they DO in Marlborough Street?

[Watcher1]

There are 1300 civil servants in the Department of Education.
They will prosecute you if you seek to keep your children out of school.
But if you ask them to find your child a place in a school, they'll tell you that's your own responsibility, even if, as in my case, over 40 schools in the area had told me they were full and could not give my child a place.
I've had to move house and pay thousands annually just to get my kid an education.
Seriously, WTF do they DO in Marlborough Street?

Write reports I presume.

[JollyRedGiant]

More importantly though, I hope the substitutes are going to be paid a reasonable hourly rate under this deal, and not the ridiculous €42/hr they had been getting.

With unemployment rising and pay rates declining, I'd imagine there would be no shortage of suitable people who'd work for €15/hr.

Brilliant idea - bring in people off the streets - pay them a fraction of the going rate and put them in charge of teaching children. I think the vast majority of parents would prefer if their kids were taught by qualified teachers.

As for wages - I only get paid the hours I am in the classroom - this week 7hrs 20mins hours - so my weekly wage this week is €322 (it's actually a bit more because I get more than €42 per hour). At €15 per hour my wages this week would have been €110. Great wage after six years in college.

[droghedasouth]

Not all substitutes are teachers.
People get the same inflated rate whether they just try and keep the kids quiet or if they teach them.
That is pure lunacy.

[SPN]

Brilliant idea - bring in people off the streets - pay them a fraction of the going rate and put them in charge of teaching children. I think the vast majority of parents would prefer if their kids were taught by qualified teachers.

As for wages - I only get paid the hours I am in the classroom - this week 7hrs 20mins hours - so my weekly wage this week is €322 (it's actually a bit more because I get more than €42 per hour). At €15 per hour my wages this week would have been €110. Great wage after six years in college.

€322 for 7 hours!

That is outrageous!

No wonder the Country is in the state it is in.

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[JollyRedGiant]

€322 for 7 hours!

That is outrageous!

Maybe you could arrange to find me a full-time permanent teaching job at the starting rate of €33,000 per year. I would be more than happy to accept it. However I have to sit at home by the phone every morning to see if I have any work that day. I might get a call and I might not. This week I worked 11 classes - 3 on Monday 9am, 11am, 3.20pm - 1 on Tuesday 11.40am - 2 on Wednesday 9.40am and 2pm - 3 on Thursday 10.20am, 11.40am and 2.40pm and 2 classes today 10.20am and 2.40pm. If I get offered a calss and I turn it down then the phone doesn't ring the next time they are looking for someone to work. And I still have no idea if I will have any work next week - I might find out at about five to nine next Monday morning.

[JollyRedGiant]

Not all substitutes are teachers.

Of the fifty odd sub teachers who have passed through the school I work in one was not qualified - she spent two years working up her hours so that she would qualify to do the H-Dip (and was an excellent teacher by the way).

People get the same inflated rate whether they just try and keep the kids quiet or if they teach them.
That is pure lunacy.

And you are suggesting that unqualified people are only there to keep kids quiet. In fact if anyone does it you will find it is the full-time permanent teachers that sit in classroom and keep the kids quiet. Sub teachers and those unqualified do their utmost to teach classes - because you have to get experience and you have to show the school you will work your ass off so that they will keep calling you back. I do not kown of a single situation where a school brings in a sub just to keep kids quiet - they try and bring in those that have shown that they will work in any situation no matter how difficult it is. This week I taught ever class that I went into and that included woodwork (my father was a carpenter), science (I used to have one of those old chemistry sets), religion (even though I am an atheist), history, computers, english and cspe.

[SPN]

However I have to sit at home by the phone every morning to see if I have any work that day.

17,000 people lost their jobs in November, bringing us to a total of 277,200 unemployed.

The best guess for expected job losses in January is in the region of 50,000.

As I said, €322 for 7 hours work, in the current economic environment, is outrageous.

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